In labelling equipment described in German published application DE-OS No. 31 35 654, the take-up reel is driven in the above-mentioned step wise fashion by a pneumatic cylinder. The piston rod of the pneumatic cylinder is directly linked to a crank or rocker arm, which is coupled to the axle of the take-up reel through a freewheel. Since the piston drive takes place at a constant velocity, the final linear velocity of the band at the end of each step will increase with increasing diameter of the coil accumulated on the take-up reel. Since the system has an associated inertia, the distances required to stop the band will vary as a function of the diameter of the coil on the take-up reel. This makes it impossible to apply the labels exactly to the object to be labelled.